I've eaten 1200 cals by lunch time! How do I not do that?

Definitely pre plan your day.

I know I like eating later in the day, so I plan my meals that way... I would hate to log meal by meal and end up at dinner with not a lot left!

Also, what's your calorie goal for the day? If 1200, you may need more. Do you tend to eat a lot of carbs? If so, try halving what you're eating now and substitute with a little healthy fat, veggies and some fruits.

Since you are asking for feedback on your diet, open up your diary to readers.

How big are you serving sizes? I can't see how cereal/milk and flat bread/ham can be 1200cals?

Are you weighing / measuring your foods or guessing at sizes and, therefore, over-estimating?

Are you grazing all morning? Are your servings too large? Watch the serving sizes, and weigh/measure accordingly. You should be able to get by with cereal packages, milk and fruit around 200 calories. If you get hungry, try some protien (hard boiled egg < 80 cals). Fewer than 300 for breakfast / snack, try for a 300 calorie lunch. Your 1200 calories are cut in half!

I usually make my own smoothie for brekky, with unsweatened almond milk, low cal yogurt, veggies & frozen tropical fruit, or have a protein bar (under 200 cal) I use one slice of bread for all sandwiches, I use Best foods lite mayo. Ham is pretty low cal. canned chicken breasts sandwich is pretty low call too.Hard boiled egg, Omelet made with 1 whole egg & 1 or 2 egg whites with cubed ham is filling too. Today I had baked chicken breast with a little stuffing & potato for lunch. For snack i usually have a low fat waffle with P&J, I use 1 Tbl of P butter so I can have more than 1 a day, but today i wanted to try P&J bites I got from whole foods yesterday. For dinner, I do best when I add fair amount of veggies to what ever else I'm having. For me personally, salads don't fill me up at all. I had breakfast (170 cal) lunch & snack & have 664 cal left for rest of day. I'm having ground beef patty, baked potato & zucchini for dinner & should have cal left for evening snack. I have 1280 cal/day. 1/2 cup measured dry) oatmeal with fruit is filling for me, I put 1 individual coffee creamer tub in it sometimes,I eat slow & have sips of water/tea in between bites. I try not to wait till i'm hungry to eat or I eat too much, I'm making big pot of tea as we speak

Several great suggestions already but here are my experiences of what does and does not work for me.

Eat less starches and more fruit/veg/protein - I find this both fills me up longer and is satisfying and tends to be less calorie dense.

Prepare your meals in advance, weigh and measure appropriately, and pre-log it. You can't accidentally eat too much if all you have is this container for the meal. Measure. Measure. Measure. Cannot emphasize it enough. It's annoying and a hassle but do it. Underestimating intake is equally as bad as overestimating it. Measure your food.

Ensure your calorie reduction for fat loss is reasonable. Figure out your TDEE and eat at a reasonable level below that. You shouldn't be intending to lose more than 2 pounds a week. If you are losing more than that, then eat more. If you are eating too little food, you might plateau in your fat loss.

If 1200 calories daily is your goal, then you may need to reassess your goals. Make your number reasonable for you. I became horribly horrendously ill (migraines, shaky, nauseated, sleeping 14 hours a day but still exhausted) eating at 1200 calories a few years ago. I lost 50 pounds in eight months doing it, but gained it all back while getting my body back to healthy. Now I eat between 1800 and 2300 calories daily (more if I'm more active that day) and I've lost 30+ pounds doing so in a reasonable timeframe.

You have to feed your body now. After you lose the fat is not the time to change your lifestyle to good quality food. I personally choose to do it mostly with micronutrient rich foods. No 'diet' foods, nothing low fat or low calorie or "superfood" stuff because whatever is removed from the food is replaced with something that is just as unhealthy. Low sodium food often has higher sugar, low fat often has either higher sodium or sugar, low calorie often has next to no micronutrient content and with all of them the flavour is impacted. It all spirals into a mess of not knowing which is best but inevitably results in frustration and giving up.

It's easier to justify overeating diet food - it's healthy! - but you aren't better off than you would be if you had a small portion of non-diet food. Also, and this is purely personal opinion, I like the taste of regular food more. Regular good quality food works for me. Fruit and veggies, grains, meat, seafood, and milk products.

Do not buy food you do not intend to eat. Your niece doesn't need access to her favourite cookie when she visits. Just don't do it.

Drink water. Easiest most effective method of calorie reduction in the world. Water. Not juice, fizzy drinks, alcohol, or any other calorie beverage. Water. No zero calorie carbonated or canned or pizzazzed up drinks. Water. When your pee is a lightly coloured pale yellow you are doing well. It's a different amount of water for everyone (for some 8 glasses, but for me it's about 12) so your results may vary.

Trial and error. If it isn't working for you try something else. It's your journey to take and your road to follow. How and if and when you choose to get there is up to you.

I exercise before I eat, within 15 minutes of getting up and ready, 4 days a week, I walk/ run 1.5 miles to the gym, do my hour elliptical and 25-30 min weight circuit workout, have a visit and coffee, and walk/run home. The exercise reduces my appetite significantly. I cannot do cardio after a meal. Even a banana gives me heartburn. If I didn't get going to the gym asap, I'd eat a huge breakfast. The exercise saves me from eating too much during the day.....

Might not work for you, but a charm for me!

TonyB0588 wrote: »

coolbluecris wrote: »

I've eaten 1200 cals by lunch time! How do I not do that?

That's just a high fibre brekky and a flat bread lunch with ham salad and a bit of Mayo.

Just fill up on vegetables? They usually just end up being boring packet veggies with my time limitations. There must be a better way.

Any advice gladly accepted :-)

What daily total are you aiming for? Mine is 1810, so 1200 by lunch time still leaves me a lot for the end of the day. And if I go over, I do some additional exercise to earn back extra calories.

It's very easy scheduling your meals is a great way to do it I need 1600 calories a day to keep up I give myself 500 calories for breakfast simply because I drink coffee. 400 for lunch that is a nice sized salad and water. 400 for dinner which is not much but I still have 300 for snacks mainly at night when my honey who is not on a diet is munching I tend to get the urge

coolbluecris wrote: »

I've eaten 1200 cals by lunch time! How do I not do that?

That's just a high fibre brekky and a flat bread lunch with ham salad and a bit of Mayo.

Just fill up on vegetables? They usually just end up being boring packet veggies with my time limitations. There must be a better way.

Any advice gladly accepted :-)

What is your calorie goal?
Are you very active in the morning? Are you actually hungry later in the day if you eat 1200 calories by lunch or is this an issue because you are expected to eat meals with other people later in the day and you don't have calories left?

You can split up your calories however and whenever works best for you.
Plan your meals. Maybe try different foods to see if you could be satisfied with less food at breakfast. Maybe more protein or fats at breakfast. You can eat raw fruits or vegetables to bulk up your meals without taking long to prep.

I prelog my food for the whole day. I eat most of my calories later in the day because that is when I get hungrier. I try to have protein at breakfast. Cereal leaves me hungrier than yogurt and fruit.